William Akio is delighted with the support he has had from the Raith Rovers fans after only a few appearances.
By the time he was named on the bench versus Arbroath last month the supporters had a song prepared.
He has repaid their backing with an important goal versus Dundee in the SPFL Trust Trophy before he missed out against Motherwell due to being cup-tied.
The Ross County loanee made his return buy coming off the bench in Friday night’s 1-1 draw at Queen’s Park to net the equaliser.
Yesterday’s goal was a crucial equaliser 👏
Despite his penalty getting saved, Akio’s instinctive and speedy reactions ensured the ball ended up in the back of the net, with some tremendous acrobatics to celebrate 🤩#YourRovers pic.twitter.com/x10NdIIfbd
— Raith Rovers Football Club (@RaithRovers) February 18, 2023
It could have been different had he not reacted quickly to get on to the rebound from Calum Ferrie’s penalty save.
Positive move
Akio could be seen acknowledging the healthy away support that was singing his name – but only after his acrobatic celebration.
“I love that song,” he said. “I heard it first against Arbroath and it was really nice.
“It’s been a positive move so far, everyone has been super supportive of me.
“The fans have been behind me through everything. I love it, it’s good.
“It wasn’t a nice goal but as I hit it I saw the goalkeeper fumble it and my initial instinct was ‘go finish it, put it in the back of the net.
“I just wanted to come on and make an impact with my speed, my pace and just try to help the team.
“So it was nice to get a goal, even though it wasn’t the prettiest of goals, I’ll take it!
“I’ve wanted to do that celebration for a while now and I told the boys I’ll do it the next time I score.
“The fans loved it too. That’s my usual celebration all the time, I was doing that all the time in Canada.”
‘I have a feeling’
Rovers boss Ian Murray highlighted Akio’s enthusiasm shortly after he signed and again heaped praise on the forward following Friday’s match.
With Rangers in the Scottish cup, a final in the SPFL Trust Trophy and some winnable Scottish Championship matches coming up, the striker is optimistic about the run-in.
“We’re 13 games unbeaten now, confidence is growing and there’s still quite a few games left,” said Akio.
“Like we said in the locker room, we just got to keep pushing, day by day, week by week and try to get as many points as we can.
“This league is tough and this is something I realised as soon as I came here – it’s really high intensity, very physical.
“I’m ready for the challenge and I think Raith Rovers are going to do well. I have a feeling.”
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